A growing number of students are 'going global' in a bid to gain cultural fluency, build networks and learn how to work in differing cultural environments. But, while there has been a modest increase in the number of what the British Council calls 'mobile students', in the past few years, the number of outbound students from Australia, Britain and the United States is still much smaller than those inbound to the three key English-speaking countries.
'There is a real risk that the competitive position of these countries will be damaged by their limited participation in outward mobility, especially when their graduates find themselves competing not only against each other, but also against highly qualified graduates from other countries,' the British Council believes.
Sharri Holroyd and Gareth Lewis are two of the dozens of British students studying in Hong Kong at local universities under the student abroad scheme. They took part in a student forum which reported back to the main Going Global conference.
Holroyd, from York, northern England, is studying international relations and education as a joint honours at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Lewis is studying modern history with economics at the University of Manchester in England.
'Spending part of my degree studying abroad seemed to be a natural part of my studies,' Holroyd said. 'Studying abroad not only enables me to gain an insight into another country's educational policies and practice, and improve my knowledge and employability in this area, but it also enables me to experience firsthand another culture and make international friends.'
Holroyd believes that living in another country can open a student's eyes to the many diverse opportunities that are available to them that they might not be aware of if they stayed home.